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Is It Safe to Sell Your House Now?

It might finally be time to come out of the basement.

Seven years after the housing market began to collapse, rising prices and thinner inventories are presenting new opportunities for home sellers. Some hot markets are even seeing multiple offers for the same property—a phenomenon rarely seen since the boom years—as buyers become more confident and seek to take advantage of today's near-record-low mortgage rates.

Home prices nationally climbed 8.3% in December from the same period a year earlier, according to CoreLogic, CLGX -1.09%a real-estate analytics company. The increase was the largest since May 2006 and the 10th consecutive monthly gain. The CoreLogic figures include foreclosures and other distressed sales.

The gains are good news for would-be sellers who have been stranded on the sidelines since home prices peaked in 2006. Nearly one in four homeowners and renters say now is a good time to sell a home, according to a survey released this month by Fannie Mae.

Thinking about selling? You are likely to find a buyer more quickly and at a better price if you factor in local market conditions and recent sales before setting an asking price, burnish your home's Internet profile and plan ahead for a home appraisal.

Acting soon may pay off as well. While trends vary by region, buyer search activity generally peaks in March and April, while seller listings peak in July, says Jed Kolko, chief economist at real-estate website Trulia. "Most sellers would be better off if they pushed the process up a couple of months," he says.

Sellers could face headwinds if mortgage rates jump or the economy weakens, while the supply of homes for sale is likely to increase over the next few months, creating more competition, say real-estate agents.

Don't expect to make a killing. Even after the recent gains, home prices remain about 27% below their 2006 highs, according to CoreLogic.

Still, in many markets, sellers have more of an edge than they have had in years. One big reason: The number of existing homes on the market dropped to 1.74 million in January, down 25% from a year earlier and the lowest level since December 1999, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Houses are also selling faster. The median number of days on the market for homes in January was 71, according to the Realtors group, meaning half of all homes sold within that time. That's down from 99 days one year ago.

If you are thinking of making a move, start by assessing conditions in your local market. Lanny Baker, chief executive of ZipRealty, an online real-estate brokerage based in Emeryville, Calif., suggests focusing on five measures: price changes, the inventory of homes for sale, competition from foreclosures, the average time it takes a home to sell and the gap between selling prices and list prices.

But sellers shouldn't be complacent. Here are some steps to consider.

Interview agents. Some people prefer to handle the selling process themselves. But if you plan to use a real-estate agent, start by interviewing several contenders.

Mr. Baker of ZipRealty suggests narrowing your search to agents who have handled many sales in your neighborhood. They are likely to have the best view of local market conditions and can better assess what your home may sell for and how it should be marketed, he says.

Adjust your sights to today's market. Set aside what your home might have fetched in 2006 and focus instead on what homes are selling for today.

Dan Elsea, president of Real Estate One in Detroit, uses recent sales as his guide, paying particular attention to properties that have received multiple offers. He prefers the homes he sells to be among the five lowest-priced properties among similar homes. "Typically, a buyer will see and remember five homes at a time," he explains.

Pay attention to how long competing homes have been on the market. These days, well-priced homes often sell in a week or two, while homes that languish for months are typically priced at unrealistic levels.

Don't overreach. Given today's thin inventories, it is tempting to reach for the stars. But if you get greedy and set the price too high, you are likely to wind up in a downward spiral.

"You are going to have your largest viewing audience in your first days on the market, when the house is the newest product on the shelf," says Lloyd Fox, a broker at Long Realty in Scottsdale, Ariz. If the price is too high, buyers and agents are likely to relegate your listing to the sidelines.

Properly priced homes are likely to get eight to 10 showings their first week on the market and an offer soon after, Mr. Fox says. If not, "you have missed the market" and it's likely a price cut is in order, he adds.

Make the Internet work for you. Most home buyers and agents are now starting the search process online, which means it is important to make the Internet a key part of your marketing strategy. Begin by carefully selecting the photos you will post online.

Factor in Internet searches when setting your listing price. Because most buyers tend to search in $25,000 or $50,000 increments, you can maximize your exposure by pricing your home at a round number, such as $400,000. That way the house will show up when buyers search for homes in the $350,000 to $400,000 range and for those priced at $400,000 to $450,000.

Weigh multiple offers carefully. In cases of multiple bidders, you should focus not just on price, but also on terms.

Clean up your act. Even in a market where inventories are thin, a home isn't likely to sell if it looks shabby or crowded. At a minimum, you'll need to touch up the paint, clean the carpet and pare your possessions.

Suzanne Peltier, who lives in Farmington Hills, Mich., hired a handyman to patch loose bricks and touch up the paint on her four-bedroom Colonial before putting it on the market. She also removed some of her furniture so the home looks bigger.

Julie Kaczor, a broker at Baird & Warner Real Estate in Chicago's western suburbs, advises clients to get rid of magazine racks, statues, fireplace tools and anything else that can clutter up the edges of a room. She looks for inexpensive fixes with good payoffs, such as a fresh coat of paint, removing outdated window treatments or a carpet cleaning.

Plan ahead for the appraisal. About 30% of real-estate agents reported that low appraisals had resulted in the cancellation, delay or renegotiation of a purchase, according to a January survey by the National Association of Realtors.

If you are interested in selling your home please contact the Andrea Crossman Group for more information 616-355-6387.

The data relating to real estate on this web site comes in part from the Internet Data Exchange Program of the Northern Michigan MLS (NM-MLSX). Real estate listings held by brokerage firms other than Coldwell Banker Schmidt REALTORS are marked with the NM-MLSX logo and the detailed information about said listing includes the listing office.

All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed and should be independently verified. All properties are subject to prior sale, change or withdrawal. Neither the listing broker(s) nor Coldwell Banker Schmidt REALTORS shall be responsible for any typographical errors, is information, misprints, and shall be held totally harmless.

The data relating to real estate on this web site comes in part from the Internet Data Exchange Program of the Water Wonderland MLS, Inc. (WWLX). Real estate listings held by brokerage firms other than Coldwell Banker Schmidt REALTORS are marked with the WWLX logo and the detailed information about said listing includes the listing office.All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed and should be independently verified. All properties are subject to prior sale, change or withdrawal. Neither the listing broker(s) nor Coldwell Banker Schmidt REALTORS shall be responsible for any typographical errors, is information, misprints, and shall be held totally harmless.

The data relating to real estate on this web site comes in part from the Internet Data Exchange Program (IDX) of the Paul Bunyan Board of REALTORS®. The listings displayed are from MLS Participants of the Wexford/Missaukee MLS Database, as so designated, who have chosen to participate in Paul Bunyan Board of REALTORS® IDX Service, through its subsidiary corporation, Paul Bunyan MLS, Inc. The detailed information about said listings includes the listing office information.The information being provided is for consumers' personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing. All information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed and should be independently verified. All properties are subject to prior sale, change or withdrawal. Neither the listing broker(s) nor Paul Bunyan Board of REALTORS® or its MLS Service, Paul Bunyan MLS, Inc., represented through display of data taken from either of its MLS databases, Wexford/Missaukee or Ros Co, shall be responsible for any typographical errors, misinformation, misprints, and shall be held totally harmless.Paul Bunyan Board of REALTORS®, Paul Bunyan MLS, Inc. All rights reserved.

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